Indian Railways to replace Shatabdi with its new semi high-speed trains this June

The Indian Railways is in the news yet again for another good reason. Reportedly, the railways are gearing up to introduce India’s first domestically made semi high-speed train equipped to run 160 kmph hour.

The train will be self-driven on electric traction just like the metro train, and won’t need a locomotive to drive it. It will go on tracks in June 2018.

Apart from the high speed, the train can accelerate quickly, helping to cut travel time. It is set to be deployed in place of one of the premium Shatabdi Express trains. The train will have 16 coaches, and every coach will be worth INR 6 crore, which is 40 percent less price as compared to European coaches of similar make. The train will be given spacious chair-car seating and will be enhanced with all modern facilities. The total cost of the train is estimated to be INR 100 crore.

The train is being made by the Indian Railways-owned Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. “This will be the first ever semi high-speed train that is being manufactured by Indian Railways on its own. The train set would be able to run at the speed of 160 km per hour, making it the fastest in the country,” told Sudhanshu Mani, ICF general manager, to the press.

News has it that ICF is focusing towards making high-end train sets under the Indian Government’s ‘Make in India’ project. “We’ll be producing a record number of 2,500 rail coaches including 1,100 LHB coaches this year, which will be the highest ever for the ICF facility,” said Mani. The new gen passenger type coaches - LHB coaches have been developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany.

Reportedly, LHB is now aiming to break records by making light-bodied and energy-efficient aluminium trains as per the European standards. The trains are scheduled to be introduced in 2020.

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Indian Railways to replace Shatabdi with its new semi high-speed trains this June

The Indian Railways is in the news yet again for another good reason. Reportedly, the railways are gearing up to introduce India’s first domestically made semi high-speed train equipped to run 160 kmp...